Suffering
by TycadManson
Summary: This is the original version of this story, but I also have a remastered version (work in progress). Check it out when you're done here! This is a Cupcakes spin-off with FlutterDash. I have nothing against Pinkie Pie.
1. Chapter 1

I'm not writing this story to bash any character! I'm getting that out of the way now. If I had to pick a purpose as to why I wrote this story, it'd be more or less to empower Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash later down the line. Once again, I'M NOT BASHING PINKIE PIE OR ANY OTHER CHARACTER! Pinkie Pie is portrayed as insane in the Cupcakes story, someone who is beyond the point of no return especially. I enjoy writing about characters, especially dialogue, that portrays insanity, I think it's fun. So with that out of the way, enjoy the story!

"I want to go home," Dash sobbed.

"Yeah, I can see wanting to do that," replied the party pony in a cold, uncaring manner. "Sometimes, I just wanna give up, just say 'I'm done with this mess' and go to bed. But you know what? You can't shrug off your responsibilities. You got to pull yourself up and meet the challenges head on. That's the only way you're gonna get ahead in life."

Dash hung her head and cried. Minutes passed, but they felt like hours to the cyan mare. She had lost a great deal of blood, the stubs where her wings used to be were bleeding profusely still, and the electricity had more than likely done some serious damage to her heart. Not to mention the spikes that were still cooking the enamel and flesh inside of her hooves. Dash looked up to see Pinkie approaching her, scalpel in hand, with an evil grin on her face.

"Well, this is it, looks like I'm done for." Dash thought solemnly. "I just wish I could have said good-bye to my friends, I wish I could have said goodbye to... Fluttershy."

In that moment, time stopped. Everything was still. Rainbow Dash lied there, life flashing before her eyes. She saw it all. The countless amounts of pranks she and Pinkie would play on other ponies. When she first met Twilight Sparkle. Standing up for Fluttershy when they were both in school. So many happy memories presented themselves before her. It might have held some nostalgic value had it not been for the mind snapping pain that pulsed through her body.

Rainbow Dash wasn't ready to die, there was simply too much left undone. So much she still had to do, The Wonderbolts, her friends, her place as an Element of Harmony, she wasn't ready to give it up.

Than there was her current situation. Rainbow Dash realized that she was about to be eviscerated by, who she thought, was her dear, hyperactive friend. Rainbow Dash felt the tears stinging her face again, as she realized that Pinkie had little to no sympathy for her, or for anypony, as she had deduced by looking around her "eccentrically" decorated room.

Just as Rainbow Dash was readying herself to accept defeat, her left hoof nudged a little bit, she glanced up to see that one of her bindings was loose. She nudged her hoof against the straps. The ends were frayed and the bolts holding the edged down were loose. Dash could feel it.

"Of course!" Dash thought with new found hope. "With all the ponies Pinkie must have abducted, these old things had to have gotten worn out after a while! If I can wait until Pinkie is close enough, maybe I can get loose!" Rainbow Dash felt more of her strength returning at this realization, but she did her best to hide it. Apparently it worked, because Pinkie was still advancing towards her.

Rainbow Dash waited until Pinkie's scalpel was, but mere centimeters away from her stomach, than, with all the strength she had in her body, ripped her left hoof free and nailed Pinkie right in her jaw! The scalpel flew from her hands and Dash instinctively caught it with her free hoof. She looked up to see that Pinkie had already regained her bearings and had picked up another scalpel.

In a blind rage, Pinkie charged the still restrained Rainbow Dash. Dash held up her free hoof, closed her eyes, waited for whatever may come. But nothing came. She unshielded her eyes to see Pinkie staring wide eyed at her, than falling on her side, unmoving. Dash looked down to see the scalpel she had been holding only second prior was jammed right into Pinkie's heart. Rainbow Dash almost wept for her fallen friend. Than she came to her senses. Dash was just grateful to be alive.

Rainbow Dash reached down to the scalpel and grabbed it. She cut the rest of her bonds loose and attempted to make her way out. All she could do was crawl. The drug that Pinkie had injected into her spine prevented her from using her hind legs. She slowly crawled up the stairs, pain cascading through every fiber of her being with every drag. She reached the shop, which was eerily quiet.

Rainbow Dash finally made her way out of the cellar and into the street. It was in the middle of the night in Ponyville, so everyone was asleep at this time, so Rainbow Dash tried to scream to get someponys attention, but it was no use. All the screaming she had done in the cellar while Pinkie was torturing her had strained her voice to the point where she could only offer a whisper of a scream.

Rainbow Dash couldn't drag herself any further, she needed to rest. She rolled over onto her back. What followed was a strong stinging feeling that came from her back when the wounds on her back made contact with the ground. She didn't scream, screaming at this point did nothing to curb the pain that she felt both physically and mentally.

The pain Rainbow dash was feeling was nothing compared to the pain in her heart. She trusted Pinkie. She trusted Pinkie with her life! Yet here she was, bleeding, bruised, and nearly roasted alive at the hands of her "friend", Rainbow Dash just stayed there, sobbing quietly as a pool of blood slowly surrounded her. After a few minutes, she rolled back over, her resolve to keep going somewhat renewed.

Rainbow Dash tried to drag herself to the hospital, but only fell on her side. She started feeling lightheaded from the blood-loss. She knew she didn't have much time at this point. If shock and blood-loss didn't do her in, than the copious amounts of drugs and stimulants Pinkie had pumped into her will. The last thing she saw before she lost consciousness was a blurry, yellow figure sprinting towards her.


	2. Chapter 2

Darkness.

Everything is so cold. Everything is so dark. Rainbow Dash couldn't tell if she was evenin her own body. She tried to look around, to move, but she couldn't. Almost as if her very soul was disembodied.

"Am I dead?" Rainbow Dash thought.

"Far from it." Came another voice. "If you were dead, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

Rainbow Dash knew that voice, but her memory of all of her experiences was fuzzy due to her recent trauma. Someone with a gentle voice, one that could rarely work up a tone above a whisper.

"Who are you?" Rainbow asked.

"You know me. I know your memory isn't quite clear right now, but rest assured, you'll see me when you wake up."

"Wake up?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yes." Said the voice. "You're at the Ponyville hospital right now, more specifically, you were admitted into the ER at about 11:30 last night, it is now 10:00 in the morning and you're sound asleep in stable condition. Not necessarily healthy, but stable."

And than, in that instant, everything that transpired over the last 24 hours came rushing back to her. The cupcakes, the table, the skin dress, and finally, the torture. The horrible torture. Rainbow Dash struggled to block the images from her mind, but they just kept presenting themselves as soon as she managed to block another one out. So much blood. So many tears. So much pain. It was enough to make the king of Tartarus sick.

Rainbow Dash tried to maintain what composure she could. Who would have thought that Pinkie Pie was so...so... twisted? But than again, they always say that those who seem the happiest are normally hiding something dark.

"Well, if I'm there, than how am I also here?" Rainbow Dash inquired.

"You really aren't much of a thinker, are you?" Said the voice with a disappointing tone.

"Well, you don't have to be mean about it..." mumbled Dash.

"You're currently unconscious and this is where the conscious part of you goes when you're unconscious. In this case, you're face to face with me, your subconscious. In laypony's terms, the uncensored you."

"Now I KNOW that's a lie!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"Oh, do you now? Pray tell, how am I lying?" Said the voice, amused.

"Well, you don't sound anything like me and you sound a lot smarter than me!"

"Did it ever occur to you that you had a much higher capacity for learning and you just never bothered to use it?" Said the voice, now sounding more annoyed.

Rainbow Dash didn't know whether to feel angry, ashamed, or flattered.

"Not only that, but I'm your subconscious. I know more about you than you know about you. Therefor, my form, or in this case, voice, emulates one of your deepest desires. I could show you my visual form, but what fun would that be? I'd rather you find out for yourself. After all, you've been denying it for so long. Remember when I said 'you'll see me when you wake up'?"

"Yeah, what of it?" Said Rainbow Dash.

"Well, lets just say my form is somepony who is very near and dear to you, so near and dear that some might say you two have a lot of "chemistry" as it's said. In fact, she's the one that dragged you all the way to the hospital"

"She?" Rainbow Dash questioned.

"Yes my dear. She."

Rainbow Dash was about to question further, but the voice stopped her.

"Oh dear, would you look at that? It seems that you're almost due to wake up from your little nap. I hope you've enjoyed our time together as much as I have. After all, I am you." Said the voice with a chuckle.

As the blackness around her melted into light, Rainbow Dash could faintly hear the voice say: "Just think about what I said. Now wake up. Wake up."

"Wake up" "Please, wake up..."

Rainbow Dash could feel a soft pressure on her chest as she heard a soft voice gently begging her to wake up. She opened her eyes to see a yellow pegasus sobbing into her hospital gown.

"F-Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash said weakly.

Fluttershy looked up, and turned her head to Rainbow Dash, her eyes wide and tears streaming down her face. It took her a moment to register what was happening, but quickly threw her forelegs around Rainbow Dash's neck and tightly embraced her.

"Oh thank Celestia, you're finally awake!" Fluttershy said through her tears.

"Yeah, I am, and I'm here." Said Rainbow Dash weakly. Rainbow Dash gently wrapped her own forlegs around Fluttershy's all the pain she felt in her body, she felt strangely at peace, holding Fluttershy in her arms. Despite being found nearly dead in the street, in that moment, Rainbow Dash had never felt more alive. Tears of her own soon started falling down her face. She had known the platonic love of friendship for a long time, but this was different. It felt a lot more sincere and meaningful. This feeling welled inside of Rainbow Dash's chest to the point where all it did was make her sob in joy.

Fluttershy gently ran her hoof up the bandages that were on her flanks. She had always admired Rainbow Dash from afar, but looking at all she had been through recently, her admiration for her soared. Rainbow Dash had faced mutilation and certain death and came out standing.

"How could Pinkie do something like this?" Murmured Fluttershy.

"Wait, you know?" Asked Rainbow Dash.

"Yes. The police did an investigation after you were checked into the hospital, they found everything, including the hidden chamber, as well as the bodies of all those ponies and Pinkie's corpse, everyone knows the truth now."

Rainbow Dash said nothing, she just cradled Fluttershy's head while she continued sobbing into her multicolored mane.

They both layed there, one comforting the other with the others presence. Rainbow Dash had strangely already come to terms with the absence of her wings, she thought she would be hysterical over the loss of something so valuable to her. But she wasn't. The comfort and sympathy she was receiving from Fluttershy had somehow tranquilized the immense sadness and despair that would have come with the loss of her wings.

Fluttershy soon fell asleep. Rainbow Dash stared at her sleeping form, her hooves gliding through Fluttershy's soft, pink mane. Rainbow Dash suddenly felt tired again. She gently nuzzled her snout into Fluttershy's mane, taking in her scent as she lost herself, both into sleep and into the tender moment.

"Oh yes, you two are bound to happen, whether you know it or not." said Rainbow Dash's subconscious.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey doc, here for another check-up?" Said Rainbow Dash casually.

"Actually, I'm here to tell you that you're being checked out today." Replied the doctor smiling.

"Really?!"

"Yes, you've made great strides in your recovery. We had originally predicted that you would be here for, at least,  
a month before you could even think about leaving, but your injuries are healing much faster. At this rate, you'll be completely fine an another week or so." Explained the doctor.

"That's AWESOME!" exclaimed the cyan pegasus. But in her joy, something hit her, something that she hadn't taken into account until now.

"But, what about my wings?"

The doctor looked at his hooves for a few seconds and than back at Dash.

"I'm sorry, but we couldn't recover your wings in time to save them. Your cutie mark will reemerge within a couple of days but I'm afraid your wings are... gone..." The doctor said sadly. He barely had the heart to tell her.

Rainbow Dash was greatly saddened by the news, but somehow, she had already known, which numbed the pain a little bit, but it still hurt. Flying was her life, her purpose, and that purpose was gone. A lone tear made it's way down her cheek, but she kept her head up.

"Yeah, I know" Rainbow Dash said with a shaky voice. "I kinda figured after the first week of not having them."

A few more seconds passed before the door opened again and Fluttershy entered the room.

"I'll just leave you two alone" Said the doctor as he stepped out of the room.

Fluttershy walked to Rainbow Dash's bedside and sat down.

"How are you feeling?" Asked Fluttershy with concern.

"I'm feeling fine, I guess. Doc says I'll be able to leave today." Rainbow Dash said glumly, the earilier depression still not completely gone.

"The doctor told me about your condition, everything could be saved except your-"

"Wings?" Finished Rainbow Dash with a pessimistic tone.

"Y-yes" Fluttershy stuttered.

"Don't worry Shy, I've already come to terms with it." Dash half lied. "Come on, let's go."

Rainbow Dash hopped down from the hospital bed and onto her hooves for the first time in two weeks. He rear hooves were still a bit tender from the spikes and from the lack of usage, but she could at least keep her balance. Rainbow Dash walked to the doorway, but Fluttershy stopped her.

"Wait, where are you going?" Asked Fluttershy.

"I dunno, to find a new place to live I guess. Not like I can go home now that I... can't fly..."

"Well, um, that's what I came here to tell you." Said Fluttershy. "The doctors say that it's not healthy for you to be living alone in your current state, and even if you were, you can't exactly..umm..." Fluttershy had no clue how to word that sentence without sounding rude.

"Go home?" Rainbow Dash finished yet again. "Yeah, I know Shy..."

"R-right." Stammered Fluttershy. "So, I um came to tell you, that you're going to be living with me now."

"Fluttershy, no." Rainbow Dash said. "You've done enough for me as it is, what, with dragging my sorry flank to the hospital and all. You pretty much saved my life, I'd hate to hinder you more than I already have."

As guilty as Dash felt, she would have loved nothing more than to live with Fluttershy. Throughout her time in Cloudsdale and in Ponyville, Fluttershy's hospitality was never matched to any pony she had every stayed with. But she didn't want to be a burden on anypony.

Rainbow Dash attempted to leave the room, but was stopped again, but this time, when Fluttershy blocked off the door with her foreleg.

"And where do you expect to go? Ponyville is a small town, there aren't any vacant houses, and anywhere else is too far to travel by hoof." Fluttershy said with a stern tone, similar to how a mother would scold a child for saying something stupid.

Rainbow Dash was taken aback for her timid friend's burst of assertiveness. But she insisted on not hindering her friend.  
Unfortunately, due to Fluttershy refuting the remaining excuses she had, she was dry on ways to find a place to live.

"I heard living under bridges was nice during this time of year." Rainbow Dash said.

"Rainbow Dash, do you honestly expect me to just let you do something like that? Let alone, expect you to do something like that in your current condition? I'm not going to let you be homeless! I don't care if I have to sedate you and drag you to my cottage myself, I won't have it!" Fluttershy stated firmly." Then her assertiveness faded. "Um, if you d-don't mind..."

Rainbow Dash was stunned by the second outburst, but quickly regained her bearings.

"Ok Shy, if it means that much to you, I'll stay with you." Said Rainbow Dash with a smile.

"Good!" Said Fluttershy, smiling widely. "I'll send for Tank and your things-"

"Forget my stuff, so long as I have Tank, I'm pretty sure the both of us will be treated, besides, I really don't have many things anyway" Said Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy was about to argue, but she glanced out of the window and saw that the sun was setting. The hospital would be closed to the public within the hour.

"Okay Dash, now come on, lets go home." Said Fluttershy.

The trek to Fluttershy's cottage was made in silence. Rainbow Dash wasn't in the mood to talk and Fluttershy wasn't sure what to talk about. Rainbow Dash was sincerely grateful that Fluttershy was kind enough to give her refuge. However, she still felt that she was mooching. But than she remembered when Applejack thought she could harvest all of the apples from Sweet Apple Acres without help.

"I guess we all need help once in a while, even me." Rainbow Dash thought.

The only thing that confused her was why Fluttershy said 'live with her'. Rainbow Dash could understand letting her stay until she got back on her hooves, but 'live'? Rainbow Dash understood that she really didn't have anywhere to go, even when she did get back on her hooves, but it still confused her as to why Fluttershy would want her living at her cottage, with her. Rainbow Dash felt a small blush come across her face.

"Maybe she actually likes me... No, Fluttershy isn't like that. Fluttershy may have saved my live, but she's never struck me as a fillyfooler. Even if she was, she deserves someone a lot better than me..." Rainbow Dash though glumly.

Rainbow Dash was lost in her thoughts when they finally reached Fluttershy's cottage. They both walked in. Rainbow Dash was immediately greeted with the warmth that only a well kept home could give.

"I'll go get dinner started." Said Fluttershy, smiling warmly at Rainbow Dash.

"Ok, Flutersh-" was all Rainbow Dash could manage to say before passing out on the floor.

Fluttershy frantically ran over to her friend, fearing that something was wrong. However, she calmed down when she heard Rainbow Dash give off a big snore.

"Poor thing, not being active, plus all of her wounds, she must have been exhausted." Fluttershy said to herself.

Fluttershy slung Rainbow Dash's foreleg around her neck and carried her to her bedroom. She gently layed out her cyan colored friend on her bed. Fluttershy stroked her friend's multicolored mane.

"She looks so peaceful." Murmured Fluttershy.

Fluttershy looked at Rainbow Dash's bandages. They covered her torso, both of her flanks, and both of her hind hooves. After observing Rainbow Dash's injuries, she decided that she would watch over her for the night. Fluttershy climbed into the bed with Rainbow Dash and gently wrapped her forelegs around her torso.

"This isn't weird or anything." Fluttershy thought to herself. "I'm just watching her, as a friend."

"Yes, as a friend."

Fluttershy turned to see that the moonlight had illuminated Rainbow Dash's sleeping form.

"She looks so beautiful in this light..."


	4. Chapter 4

Rainbow Dash walked, unsure of the direction she was going. She had no clue how she had gotten  
here. She wasn't even sure where she was. It was just a dark room. Strange, foreign objects  
littered the tables and the floor, but she couldn't lay a hoof on what they were or what their  
purpose was. The room had no light, no windows, and a single door, yet strangely, the room  
almost lit itself, as if the room itself was conscious.

Rainbow Dash was about to exit the strange place when she heard a soft sobbing coming from  
the rear of the room. Fear swelled in Rainbow Dash, just about every horror movie she'd seen  
in her life told her that when you hear crying in a dark room, you should run. But Rainbow Dash  
found herself being drawn to the soft weeping.

Her eyes scanned the room until she saw a small black mass, but no smaller then herself,  
curled up in a ball in the cornor of the room. Every instinct Rainbow Dash had told her  
to just run and never return. But, as if her very body was conspiring against her, she  
approached the dark form. She walked up and gently tapped the sobbing mass, hoping to get  
it's attention.

"H-hello?" Rainbow Dash asked, the fear apparent in her voice.

In that instant, the room illuminated itself, and the form whirled around and stared into  
Rainbow Dash's eyes with both anger and sadness. Rainbow Dash jumped back from the shock  
and fell onto her back. She looked up and gasped at who she saw.

"Pinkie Pie?!" She half gasped, half questioned.

"Yeah Dashie, me." said Pinkie Pie in a tone more cynical than Rainbow Dash remembered.

"You're not real, you should be dead!" Rainbow Dash was having an exeedingly difficult time  
trying to make rational sense of the situation, but she was drawing a blank at this point.

"Yeah Dashie, you're right, I shouldn't be here, but I am, and so are you." said Pinkie Pie.

As Pinkie Pie spoke those words, blood began to pour from an open wound on her chest. Rainbow  
Dash looked on with horror, unsure if Pinkie Pie had come back for revenge. The pain from those  
few weeks ago still fresh in her mind.

"I know what you're thinking Dashie, and no, I'm not here to hurt you." said Pinkie Pie, the  
initial anger in her voice was replaced by more sadness and...regret?

Rainbow Dash got onto her hooves. She felt a little bit safer, but remained vigilant.

Pinkie Pie moved closer.

"I guess you could say that I'm here to explain myself." said Pinkie Pie, tears forming in  
her eyes again.

Rainbow Dash's eyes widened, but she continued listening.

"You know I kidnapped you and tried to make you into a batch of cupcakes, but there's more  
to it than that. I won't be surprised if you don't believe this, but I didn't do it out  
of free will or even out of any kind of obligation that I had to."

Rainbow Dash's eyes narrowed to her deceased friend. She didn't want to believe her, but  
there was an odd sense if truth to her words, as if, the scenario that they were both in  
prevented any lies to be told.

"I did those things I did because the Cakes made me."

Rainbow Dash was shocked. The Cakes? How? Why? Such questions filled Rainbow Dash's head, but  
she remained silent, waiting for Pinkie Pie to continue.

"They made me do those things for a long time, at first I resisted, I could never do it willingly.  
But than they started threatening to kill me and the rest of you if I continued to resist."  
Pinkie Pie said, tears now making their way down her face.

"Pinkie..." Rainbow Dash said softly.

"After so long, I just tuned it out, the screams, the begging, the sounds of torture, it always  
made me tear up and want to throw up, but the Cakes insisted that the only emotion, if any, that  
I should show is happiness in their suffering. You know that they made me sample them before they turned them into cupcakes Dash? They had to force-feed it to me at first, but, just like the screaming and begging, I tuned it out after a while. They returned my cooperation with a promise that they wouldn't make it so I would have to do that to any of you."

Rainbow Dash felt herself tearing up as well. All of this information was coming too fast  
for her.

"But one day I messed up and almost told everyone what I had done, when Discord turned me into  
the opposite of me. They punished me by... by putting you're number in first."

Rainbow Dash shuttered at the memories.

"When you're number came up, what little was left of my sanity disappeared. The Cakes were out  
of town, covering up evidence for what they were doing in Las Pegasus, I went insane from the  
knowledge that I would have to betray the Element of Loyalty. The rest you know."  
Pinkie finished her story sadly.

"Pinkie, I don't know-" Rainbow Dash began, but Pinkie stopped her.

"Don't say anything Dashie. Nothing I ever say will ever excuse what I did, what's done is  
done, but whatever doesn't kill you is gonna leave a scar. It's left plenty on you,  
on your mind and body. Just know this: I will always love you all. It drove me insane just  
thinking about doing that to you Dashie, and nothing I ever do will ever atone for what I've done."

Pinkie Pie suddenly grew very distant as the room around Rainbow Dash as pulled to an unknown  
point. Than, in that instant, Rainbow Dash woke up.

Rainbow Dash was trembling terribly. She looked around the room. She was in Fluttershy's bedroom.  
Rainbow Dash suddenly felt a warm comfort wash over her. She turned her head ever so slightly  
to discover that Fluttershy was sleeping with her head nuzzled on her back, where her wings  
used to be. Rainbow Dash than felt Fluttershy's forelegs wrapped around her waist.

A blush slowly crept across Rainbow Dash's face. But, as much as she wanted to stay in Fluttershy's  
soft embrace, there was something she had to do. She gently unwrapped Fluttershy's forelegs  
from her waist and climbed out of bed. Her wounds were still tender, but she found that  
she could walk without much incident.

Rainbow Dash made her way out of the cottage and into Ponyville and eventually to Sugarcube Cornor.  
she could feel the demons of that place scream at her to turn back, but her resolve was solid.  
She needed confirmation. She entered the now abandoned building and trekked up the stairs  
towards where Pinkie Pie's room used to be.

She opened the door and peeked inside, the room was completely empty, just four walls, nothing  
else. Rainbow Dash huffed and was about to leave when she noticed a crack in the floor in  
the rear of the room. She walked over and scratched at the crack when it gave away, revealing  
a hole. In that hole was book titled: Pinkie's Journal.

Rainbow Dash looked through the journal, it wasn't that long, in total, there was only about  
40 entries, maybe 50. But all of those entries proved that what Pinkie had told her in her  
dream was true. Even to the point where Pinkie had to hide the journal to make sure the Cakes  
didn't find out.

That was all Rainbow Dash needed. At least now, she had a bit of closure.


	5. Chapter 5

Fluttershy slowly rose from her slumber. If she had to guess, it would have to be somewhere around 3:00 in the morning. Fluttershy was about to dose back off when she noticed that Rainbow Dash was no longer in her bed. Worry overtaking her, she hopped from her bed and started down the stairs toward the living room.

As Fluttershy entered the dark living space, she heard the front door close. She turned to see a shocked Rainbow Dash entering the room. Fluttershy was relieved to see that her friend wasn't any more hurt than she already was. But she couldn't help but notice that she looked extremely distraught about something.

"Rainbow! Oh, thank Celestia. You need to go back to bed, you're in no condition to be up."  
Fluttershy stated, concern evident in her voice.

Rainbow Dash said nothing, she simply wandered over to Fluttershy's couch and collapsed there her eyes now showing great sadness and shock.

"Rainbow? What's wrong?" Fluttershy asked.

"Fluttershy..." Rainbow Dash began, her voice shaky.

"Pinkie...she-" Fluttershy cut her off.

"Rainbow, please don't worry, she's gone now, she can't hurt you."

"You don't understand!" said Rainbow Dash, raising her voice. "The Cakes made her do it!"

Fluttershy was shocked beyond belief. She couldn't believe her ears. How could people so simple as the resident bakery managers commit acts so hideous? Sure, they definitely seemed to be a unique bunch, but she never took them to be serial killers.

"How do you know?" Fluttershy asked.

Rainbow Dash motioned towards a small book that she had dropped on the floor next to the couch. Fluttershy picked it up and read the title. It was Pinkie's journal. She opened the book and skipped to the last entry. Her eyes widened, the page had detailed how Rainbow Dash's number had been inserted as punishment for almost blowing the Cake's cover. From there, it had appeared that Pinkie had lost her sanity due to the grief and self-loathing that had come from the knowledge of what she was being forced to do. The rest of the pages just had scribblings on them.

Fluttershy looked back up at Rainbow Dash, already on the verge of tears.

"We could have helped her Shy..." Rainbow Dash said.

"Rainbow..." started Fluttershy.

"Why didn't we see the signs?!" cried out Rainbow Dash in anger and sadness. "What did Pinkie Pie do to deserve something like that?! Of all ponies, why Pinkie?!" Rainbow Dash was now crying.

Fluttershy couldn't answer her question. All she could do was comfort Rainbow Dash in anyway she could. She climbed onto the couch and wrapped Rainbow Dash in a tight, but gentle embrace. Rainbow put her forelegs around Fluttershy's torso and nuzzled Fluttershy's neck, still crying.

"She was so innocent, all she cared about was making other ponies happy! They took her and turned her into a monster!" Rainbow Dash was almost screaming into Fluttershy's neck.

Fluttershy was now weeping as well. It stung her so much to see her friend in so much pain.

After a while, Fluttershy spoke up.

"Rainbow Dash, I know it hurts, it hurts both of us a lot, and I don't know why. I wish I knew. But all I know is that reality isn't fair, and it has a habit of doing horrible, horrible things to good ponys. All we can do is hope for the best and do our best to overcome any obstacles."

Rainbow Dash looked up to see Fluttershy's ocean eyes staring deeply into her own, rose colored eyes.  
Her eyes gently traced Fluttershy's soft features. Rainbow Dash leaned forward, staring at her friend deeply. An alien emotion ran wild in her chest. She didn't know what it was, but it made made her just want to get closer.

Fluttershy stared at her friend with both a mix of sympathy and envy. Sympathy for her friend for all the trauma and heartache she was going through, and envy for the fact that she had the courage to endure it all. She truly did admire Rainbow Dash for her courage and beauty.

Wait a second. Beauty?

Fluttershy decided to just accept the fact that she liked mares at this point. One in which was staring at her at this very moment. Butterflies ran wild in her stomach. All she wanted to do was lean in just a little bit. She was ever so close.

Fortunately for her though, Rainbow Dash had already closed the distance between their faces. Fluttershy was shocked at first at the soft contact on her lips. But she soon melted into what was now, her first kiss. Fluttershy could see that Rainbow Dash was still leaking tears as she kissed. It only made her look all the more beautiful.

Rainbow Dash was shocked at her own behavior. It was like her body just took over and next thing she knew, she was kissing her best friend. On the lips, no less! Rainbow Dash was worried that Fluttershy would withdraw and run away. But Fluttershy did neither, she only gently wrapped her forelegs around Rainbow Dash's bandaged torso as she deepened the kiss.

"I guess if I was ever going to decide, for sure, that I liked mares, now would be the time." thought Rainbow Dash through the feelings of absolute pleasure and bliss that seeped into her mind. Rainbow Dash was in heaven. Fluttershy's lips must have been softer than any cloud she had ever slept on.

Fluttershy's mind was so full of pleasure that she had almost forgotten to actually kiss. It was set in stone at this point. She loved Rainbow Dash. She wasn't sure about how Rainbow Dash felt about her, but judging by how contented and blissful that she looked, Fluttershy felt good about it either way.

After so long though, they needed to separate for air. They broke the kiss and looked at each other.

"That was good." said Rainbow Dash, her eyes still half closed from the sheer amount of bliss she was evidently still in.

"It was, wasn't it?" said Fluttershy quietly.

They both got up from the couch and went back up to the bedroom. The both of them collapsed on the bed. This time, they wrapped their forelegs around one another. Fluttershy was about to fall asleep when Rainbow Dash said it.

"I love you Fluttershy."

Fluttershy felt her eyes flow with tears of joy. She had been waiting to hear somepony say that for so long.

"I love you too, Dashie."


End file.
